What’s inside: How to make Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels, quick and easy Valentines Day Treats! One of our favorite No-Bake Valentine’s Day dessert ideas that kids can make!

Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels

My daughter loves any excuse for a theme and holidays are no exception!

She loves making handmade cards and treats for her friends, so I thought these simple Cupid’s Arrow Valentine’s Day treats would be perfect for her to help make.

While heating the candy melts (or white chocolate, if you prefer) does involve the use of the microwave, kids can help with pretty much every stage of this recipe – from cutting the sour candy rainbow to placing the gummy heart “arrow heads” on the pretzel stick, and sprinkling on a garnishing of pink sprinkles.

The best part about this recipe will be how proud your little chef is of their final creations and how much joy they will get out of giving them to their friends on Valentine’s Day.

This Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels recipe is a cute addition to a Valentine’s Day party, or it makes a sweet homemade Valentines Day treat!

How to Make Cupid’s Arrows Valentine’s Day Treats

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper, wax paper, or a silicone baking mat and set aside.

Cut sour belt rainbow candy into 1-inch long pieces. To make the “feathers,” cut out a small triangle on one end and cut the other end to a point, then finish by cutting little slits along each side.

Melt pink chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir in shortening or coconut oil. Heat in 20 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and handle carefully, as the bowl may become hot. Grown-ups should do this step!

Roll each pretzel stick in the melted chocolate until coated, then lay on your prepared cookie sheet.

What’s Inside: More than 40 adorable Valentine’s Day Recipes to make and enjoy with kids.

Our Favorite Kids Valentine’s Day Recipes

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite occasions to celebrate with the kids because of the fun food! We like to make Valentine’s Day goodies to give to our family, friends, and teachers…and of course enjoy at home too!

This is a collection of some of the special treats we’ve made, as well as Valentine’s Day recipes from our favorite kid food bloggers around the web.

Since it’s a pretty big list, we broke it down into categories for easier navigating.

We hope you enjoy all of these super cute Valentine’s Day recipes as much as we do!

Crush-worthy Valentine Cookies for Kids

Classic cookies and new ideas – so many fun Valentine’s Day recipes to bake!

These white chocolate dipped Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies are an easy no bake treat that’s perfect to make in a pinch for classroom parties and gifts! Colorful and super tasty too!

White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Wafer Cookies

We love to bake together as a family, but sometimes when you have to make a big batch of treats (say for a classroom party), it helps to have shortcuts. (Shhhhh…)

I love these chocolate dipped wafer cookies because:

There’s no baking required (saves time!)

They are dipped in white chocolate (more yum!)

Kids can help make them (easy!)

For some reason wafer cookies are one of those things I don’t think to buy very often, but I used to LOVE them as a kid! There was just something about those alternating layers of crunchy and creamy – I would literally let them melt in my mouth.

When you dip them in a thick layer of white chocolate, they taste even more amazing!

Related: If you are looking for an easy cookie recipe to bake with your kids, try our Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies! They would taste amazing dipped in white chocolate too!

Happy decorating!

— Stacey

How to Make Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies

A free printable copy of this Valentine’s Day wafer cookies is available at the bottom of the post, following our quick shopping list and prep tips.

Valentine Wafer Cookies Ingredients

Prep Tips:

We used strawberry wafer cookies because they’re pink and the perfect festive color for Valentine’s Day. However, you can absolutely use any (or all) of your favorite flavors!

If melting white chocolate in the microwave, be sure to use a microwave safe bowl and handle with care. Heat in 20 second intervals, stirring between, until melted. (Grown-ups should handle this step for younger kids).

When we make chocolate dipped treats, we love to use our silicone baking mats on top of a cookie sheet to dry our chocolate. When the chocolate hardens, it pops right off the non-stick mats! These baking mats are one of the most versatile kitchen tools!

See all of our favorite Valentine’s Day treats for kids:

So cute and so much chocolate! These Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes are a sweet treat that will delight your little sweethearts!

Teddy Bear Cupcakes

Teddy bears and Valentine’s Day go hand in hand. But then afterwards there’s not much you can do with them!

That’s why I love these adorable Teddy Bear Cupcakes – they’re delicious and don’t end up in the stuffed animal pile later!

To make our Teddy Bear Cupcakes, we started with a classic chocolate cupcake and layered it with luscious chocolate buttercream frosting.

Then we created teddy bear faces using our favorite chocolate and peanut butter candies. (Actually these teddy bear faces make a super cute treat all by themselves!)

We took the same idea for our Teddy Bear Oreos, and made them into oversized Teddy Bear Cupcakes! Except this time we used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for our teddy bears.

Because chocolate and peanut butter go together like teddy bears and Valentine’s Day!

Finally, we put it all together to make a towering teddy bear cupcake that’s just bursting with chocolate and peanut butter goodness!

Yes, our teddy bear cupcakes are little over the top, but that’s what makes them so much fun! Valentine’s Day is an occasion that is known for its sweet treats, and these Teddy Bear Cupcakes are guaranteed to get ooh’s and ahh’s!

So grab the kids, grab lots of chocolate and candy, and get creating! I promise you’ll have just as much fun making these teddy bear cupcakes as you will eating them afterwards!

The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes recipe with full ingredient amounts is available at the bottom of the post.

Be sure to pin our Teddy Bear Cupcakes on Pinterest:

Prep Tips:

When melting your chocolate, use caution, as it will become hot. You can pour the candy melts into microwave safe bowls to melt and then scoop into the decorating bags. You can also skip a step and melt directly in the bags (make sure the bags are microwave safe – this won’t work if you use regular ziplock bags).

Feel free to use your favorite cupcakes recipe for your teddy bear cupcakes or even a box mix to save time. If you want extra peanut butter flavor, try these Reese’s surprise cupcakes.

Likewise, you can also use your favorite frosting recipe or even store-bought frosting. Keep in mind that homemade buttercream frosting tends to hold it’s shape better than store-bought.

Free printable copy of our Teddy Bear Cupcakes recipe:

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes

So cute and so much chocolate! These Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes are a sweet treat that will delight your little sweethearts!

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time55 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, room temp

1 cup whole milk, room temp

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened

3 cups + 1/2 cup powder sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2 teaspoon vanilla

3-5 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Peanut butter cup teddy bear:

Reese's peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Whoppers

Peanut butter or milk chocolate wafers, used for the ears and mouth

1/2 bag of white candy melts

1/2 bag of chocolate candy melts

Candy hearts

Instructions

!To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract.

Using an electric mixer, add bowl of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients, beating on medium until the batter is smooth.

Gradually add the boiling water, milk and oil and blend together until the batter is smooth.

Using a medium scoop fill the paper lined cupcake tins with the prepared batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks.

!Chocolate Frosting Directions:

Beat together powdered sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.

Add the vanilla and chocolate until well incorporated.

Add in the heavy whipping cream, and continue to mix until stiff peaks form.

Scoop the frosting into a decorating bag with a star tip.

Generously cover each cupcake with chocolate frosting. You'll want enough to place your Reese's cup bears into so that they are secure.

!Candy Teddy Bear Directions:

Pour each color of candy melts into their own plastic decorating bag and cut the tip so there is a small opening.

Take one peanut butter or chocolate wafer for each bear, then cut them in half. Use the black candy melt as glue, to affix the chocolate wafer halves to the top of your Reese's cups as "ears." Hold wafers in place until the chocolate sets.

Draw a large dot of the melted chocolate candy onto the back of a whole peanut butter or chocolate wafer and the place in the middle of the Reese's cup. This will be the nose.

Use your melted white chocolate to draw eyes on the bear's face. Allow to dry.

Use the melted dark chocolate to draw a pupil on each eye.

Carefully turn your Reese's cup bears sideways, and press the bottom into the chocolate frosting on top of your cupcake. Make sure the bear is securely in place before letting go.

Add two Whoppers on either side of the Reese's cups to be your bear's arms.

This time we decided to try something a little bit different by making our own cookie dough and then dipping it in chocolate, without baking. I mean, who doesn’t love to eat cookie dough right out of the bowl?

PS- There are no eggs in our chocolate chip cookie dough, so it’s safe to eat without baking!

This is a super easy recipe and since there is no oven involved, kids can help every step of the way.

We’ve included a helpful video tutorial in the recipe card at the bottom of the post so you can see exactly how we made our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts.

Make a batch for your favorite teacher, grandparents, neighbors, and friends. Be sure to do plenty of taste-testing as you go…wink, wink!

Grocery List

The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts recipe with full ingredient amounts and video is available at the bottom of the post.

No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts

Safety Note: Because raw flour poses the risk of food-borne illness, always use heat-treated flour or bake your flour for 5 minutes at 180°F before mixing into your cookie dough.

If your cookie dough is still a bit dry after mixing, you can add 2-3 Tablespoons of water to soften it.

After you add chocolate chips to the cookie dough batter, you may want to finish kneading by hand.

TIP: If you can’t find Ghirardelli chocolate melting wafers in your grocery store, you can also use regular chocolate chips for the coating.

When dipping your cookie dough hearts in the melted chocolate, chopsticks are one of our favorite tools. However, you can also use a fork or spoon – whichever is easiest for your kids to handle.

We love these non-stick silicone baking mats becuase when the chocolate dries, your truffles will just pop right off! You can also wash them and reuse them over and over!

Allow chocolate to set for at least 30 minutes before enjoying – you can place the cookie dough truffles in the fridge to speed up the process if you like.

Storage Info: Store your chocolate chip cookie dough hearts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Pin our Cookie Dough Hearts on Pinterest:

Free printable copy of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts Recipe

Yield: 12 truffles

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts (with Video)

No bake chocolate chip cookies dough hearts are a fun and easy Valentine's Day treat that kids can make!

Prep Time1 hour

Total Time1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup flour (plus 2 Tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened

6 Tablespoons sugar

6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons cold water

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

1 mini heart cookie cutter

8oz bag of Ghirardelli melting chocolate wafers

1 container of V-day sprinkles

Instructions

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, brown sugar, butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. If dough is still crumbly, mix in 2-3 Tablespoons cold water.

Stir chocolate chips into batter.

Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mats. Set one aside.

Place dough onto one cookie sheet and flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.

Refrigerate cookie dough for 20 minutes.

Remove dough from fridge and using the cookie cutter, cut out your hearts.

Add a larger dollop of melted chocolate into the center of the creme and place the top half of the Oreo cookie back in place.

Repeat steps with remaining Oreos and place into the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

Decorate the bears:

Remove Oreos from fridges and dip each one into the melted chocolate. (Chopsticks work great for this step, or you can use a fork). Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing on a cookie sheet to dry. (Be sure the cookie sheet is lined with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat so you can peel the finished cookies off easily).

Repeat until all teddy bear Oreos are coated in chocolate.

Use a drop of melted chocolate to attach a pink chocolate wafer to the middle of each Oreo.

Then use another drop of melted chocolate to attached a red candy heart to the middle of each pink candy melt.

Use melted chocolate to attach edible candy eyes to the teddy bear Oreos. Repeat until all are decorated.

Allow chocolate to fully set (about 1 hour) before peeling off the cookie sheet. You can place in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.

Be sure to pin this adorable Valentine’s Day Oreo Cookies recipe on Pinterest:

Grab a free printable copy of our Oreo Teddy Bear Cookies recipe:

If you like this recipe, rate it! We’d also love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Yield: 18 cookies

Valentine Teddy Bear Oreos

Cute chocolate covered Teddy Bear Oreos for Valentine's Day

Prep Time20 minutes

Cook Time2 minutes

Additional Time1 hour

Total Time1 hour22 minutes

Ingredients

1 package of "Double Stuf" Oreos

2 bags of dark chocolate melting wafers

1 bag of pink chocolate melting wafers

1 package of small edible eyes

1 container of Wilton jumbo heart sprinkles

Instructions

!Prepare the chocolate:

Melt 1 bag of dark chocolate melting wafers using a double boiler or microwave. (If using microwave, heat in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and handle with care, as bowl and contents may become hot.)

!Assemble the bears:

Carefully separate the double stuffed Oreos.

Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and add a dollop onto the creme part of the Oreo, where the ears will go.

Add a larger dollop of melted chocolate into the center of the creme and place the top half of the Oreo cookie back in place.

Repeat steps with remaining Oreos and place into the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

!Decorate the bears:

Remove Oreos from fridges and dip each one into the melted chocolate. (Chopsticks work great for this step, or you can use a fork). Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing on a cookie sheet to dry. (Be sure the cookie sheet is lined with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat so you can peel the finished cookies off easily).

Repeat until all teddy bear Oreos are coated in chocolate.

Use a drop of melted chocolate to attach a pink chocolate wafer to the middle of each Oreo.

Then use another drop of melted chocolate to attached a red candy heart to the middle of each pink candy melt.

Use melted chocolate to attach edible candy eyes to the teddy bear Oreos. Repeat until all are decorated.

Allow chocolate to fully set (about 1 hour) before peeling off the cookie sheet. You can place in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.

These XOXO Valentine Cupcakes are just gorgeous! They’re perfect for a kids Valentine’s Day party or a grown-up soirée too!

X’s and O’s Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays! I’ve loved it since I was a kid and my dad would bring us each a box of chocolates when he came home from work.

Now that I have a family of my own, we have our own special traditions. My girls and I celebrate the occasion by creating lots of fun Valentine’s Day crafts and Valentine’s Day recipes.

Each year we think of new ideas and have a blast making them in the days and weeks leading up to the big day.

These Valentine’s Day cupcakes turned out beautifully, and they are easy enough for kids to help prepare.

We’ve included a from-scratch cupcake recipe in this post, but you can totally use a box mix shortcut!

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

As corny as Valentine’s Day might seem, I absolutely love it! Maybe more than my kids do!

And why not?!

Who doesn’t love an excuse to celebrate, especially when it involves delicious and festive treats, desserts, and goodies!

Growing up, I looked forward to Valentine’s Day and the big box of chocolate my dad would bring home for each of us kids and my mom.

While my siblings were better at rationing, I usually polished off my entire box in two days tops. I loved Valentine’s Day treats then, and I still do! (Though I don’t eat quite as much of the chocolates at once anymore!)

My husband loves to cook, so instead of buying chocolates (not that there’s anything wrong with that at all!) we like to make Valentine’s Day treats as a family.

The best part is they are super easy to make! You only need 4 ingredients!

I love cake mix cookies because even if you’re not an experienced baker (I’m not!), you can totally pull them off! Since they’re easy, these Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies are also perfect to make with kids too.

Even if you are a whiz in the kitchen, sometimes a shortcut recipe really comes in handy when you’re in a hurry, as we often are around the holidays.

Strawberry Cake Cookies Ingredients & Supplies

Free printable copy of our Easy Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies recipe available at the bottom of the post.

How to make Easy Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the strawberry cake mix, oil, and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can also use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer if that is what you have in the kitchen).

Mix on medium speed until a soft dough forms.

Add white chocolate chips and fold into dough by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Use a small ice cream scoop or melon-baller to scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough onto a prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Kitchen Tools Used:

The full baking instructions are available in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post – however, I wanted to show you how we frosted the cookies. That way the written directions will make more sense!

We took each color of icing and split it into two portions. About 1/4 cup of each color icing went into a plastic piping bag, as is. This thick icing is used to outline each section on the cookies.

We mixed about 2 teaspoons of water into each bowl of icing, to thin it slightly. Then we scooped each color of thinned icing into its own squeeze bottle.

The thinner icing is used to fill in each section on your cookie, matching the color of each outline you made. We did each color one at a time, allowing the frosting to set in between so it wouldn’t mix.

So while these Mickey Mouse Christmas cookies took a bit of TLC to make, the end result is just fabulous!

Using a standing mixer or electric hand mixer, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined and stiff peaks form.

Split icing into 5 bowls.

Add in a few drops of red into the first bowl, a few drops of blue into the second bowl, a few drops of golden yellow into the third bowl, and a couple drops of black into the forth bowl. Leave the fifth bowl white

Mix each bowl until the colors are smooth and rich.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of each icing colors into a piping bag.

Mix 2 teaspoons of water into the bowls of remaining Red, Blue, Black and Yellow icing colors.

Pour each color of thinned icings into their own squeeze bottles.

To Decorate:

Using the edible marker, draw out the details of the cookie.

Use the black piping bag of thick icing to draw the outline of the ears, then fill in with the thinned icing.

Allow to dry for an hour.

As you did with the black icings, use the red icing to outline and fill in the red detail of the hat and lower part of the cookie.

Allow to dry for an hour.

Using the Yellow icing, outline and fill in the yellow detail of the hat.

Allow to dry for an hour

Using the blue icing, outline and fill in the belt of the nutcracker.

Using the yellow piping bag, pipe the details of buttons and buckle on the pants and hat.

Using the white icing bag, pipe a mustache onto front and center of the cookie.

Family movie nights are a tradition in this house and one of the best desserts for family movie night is a themed cupcake with homemade buttercream – it’s just so versatile. Themed cupcakes do not have to be complicated, as today’s super cute Toy Story Cupcake Aliens prove!

Toy Story Cupcakes

As if we weren’t already excited for the new Toy Story 4 coming June 21, 2019… then Disney had to go and release this teaser trailer set to one of my favorite songs – Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell. (If you remember that scene in Love Actually where Emma Thompson’s character is crying in the bedroom – that’s the same song, only sung by Joni 32 years later… there I go on a tangent again.)

Update: and here’s the latest trailer:

Here’s the low-down on the new plot:

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.

Directed by Josh Cooley (“Riley’s First Date?”) and produced by Jonas Rivera (“Inside Out,” “Up”) and Mark Nielsen (associate producer “Inside Out”), Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” ventures to U.S. theaters on June 21, 2019.

(PS – you can download any of these posters and print it out if you have any Toy Story fans at home who would like them!)

I showed my daughter the new trailer and now we’re having a Toy Story 1-3 marathon this Friday. Sounds good to me!

To go along with our Toy Story Family Movie night, I whipped up these super simple Toy Story Alien Cupcakes. These would also be super cute for a Toy Story party.

Now, I’m going to be honest with you – I do boxed cupcakes 90% of the time. Unless I’m going for some special flavor or it’s for a really special occasion, boxed cupcakes work perfectly fine for me.

But I draw the line at canned frosting. That’s a NOPE from me. Once you’ve made your own buttercream frosting and realize just how freaking easy it is, you will never ever go back to canned frosting. Homemade buttercream makes your cupcakes taste like they came from a bakery and they make up for any shortcuts you may have taken with the actual cupcakes.

They would also be super cute paired with or topping a Toy Story Freakshake! I found these cute ones around the web (from left to right):

Reserve about 2 Tablespoons of the frosting into a small bowl for the mouths.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip. (I just did a large cut into the bag.)

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake by placing the tip of the piping bag onto the center of the cupcake and applying even pressure to apply a generous dollop of frosting. I like this effect for the aliens rather than swirling on the frosting.

Apply three eyes in a slight curve, and then dye the reserved frosting black and add dabs of it to each alien for the mouth.

Pin this Toy Story Dessert Idea for your Family Movie Night or Toy Story party:

Grab your free printable for our Toy Story cupcakes recipe:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Toy Story Cupcake

Ingredients

Boxed cake mix

PLUS ingredients called for on box

1 cup butter, softened

3-4 cups icing sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

pinch salt

2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Green food dye, plus black food dye or just do what I did and mix blue, red and yellow to get something resembling black

Candy eyes, 3 per cupcake

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a muffin pan with themed cupcake liners.

Prepare the boxed cupcake mix as directed on box. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.

Reserve about 2 Tablespoons of the frosting into a small bowl for the mouths.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip. (I just did a large cut into the bag.)

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake by placing the tip of the piping bag onto the center of the cupcake and applying even pressure to apply a generous dollop of frosting. I like this effect for the aliens rather than swirling on the frosting.

Apply three eyes in a slight curve, and then dye the reserved frosting black and add dabs of it to each alien for the mouth.

Category: Party Recipes

Will you be trying out this recipe for your family’s Toy Story movie night?

A spooky Halloween cupcake recipe perfect for slime-loving kids, these Slime Monster Cupcakes are sure to be a hit at your Halloween festivities!

Halloween Slime Monster Cupcakes Recipe

Are your kids obsessed with slime?

These Slime Monster Cupcakes are a fun way to pay homage to every kids’ favorite hobby these days – SLIME! (This Edible Gummy Bear Slime recipe is always a winner!)

You can make these Slime Monster Cupcakes two ways – to just look like a slime monster perched on top, or you can actually fill them with “slime” (aka, dyed vanilla pudding).

The second option can be a bit messy, so be prepared! If serving at a Halloween party where people will be wearing costume, you might want to warn them about the slime inside first!

While we provided a recipe for homemade chocolate cupcakes, feel free to swap in a boxed chocolate cake mix. The real winner here is that delicious homemade buttercream frosting – which would be a crime to replace with the jarred stuff.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.

Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add food colouring, if using.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip.

If adding a slime filling, dye the vanilla pudding green, and then scoop into a piping bag. Make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill with the green pudding.

TIP: While you can use a knife to make a hole in your cupcakes, these handy Cupcake Corer tools make this step a breeze!

Swirl the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Melt the candy melts with the shortening for 25 seconds, stir, and reheat if necessary.

Place a large marshmallow in the center of each cupcake and spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of the candy melts overtop. Use the back of a spoon to help the candy melts move if needed.

Repeat with the other ghost cupcakes. After each ghost has dried for about 5 minutes, attempt to attach the eyes – if the candy melts are still too soft, give it another couple minutes before re-attempting.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.

Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add food colouring, if using.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip.

If adding a slime filling, dye the vanilla pudding green, and then scoop into a piping bag. Use a cupcake corer to make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill with the green pudding.

Swirl the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Melt the candy melts with the shortening for 25 seconds, stir, and reheat if necessary.

Place a large marshmallow in the center of each cupcake and spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of the candy melts overtop. Use the back of a spoon to help the candy melts move if needed.

Repeat with the other ghost cupcakes. After each ghost has dried for about 5 minutes, attempt to attach the eyes - if the candy melts are still too soft, give it another couple minutes before re-attempting.

Easy Pumpkin Turnovers

There’s something about a warm breakfast on a cool Fall morning — it just makes you feel all cozy inside!

These Pumpkin Pie Turnovers are the perfect fall breakfast or portable treat! Kids will love to help make them – our girls especially like to seal the edges with a fork. (We’ve included photos later in the post to show how it’s done).

If you’re having company over for the holidays, these Pumpkin Turnovers are a wonderful breakfast to feed a crowd. Served warm, with a drizzle of sweet glaze – they’re hard to beat!

Just looking at these pictures, I can smell them baking already…mmmmm! Time to get baking!

Kitchen Supplies Used

How to Make Pumpkin Pie Turnovers

A free printable copy of this Pumpkin Pie Turnovers recipe is available at the bottom of the post. Keep reading for step-by-step photo instructions, or keep scrolling to get to the printable recipe card.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle or square, then cut into 8 squares. Set aside.

To make the filling, beat together the pumpkin, egg yolk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and heavy cream.

Place a heaping tablespoon to two tablespoons of the pumpkin filling in the center of the puff pastry square.

Fold dough into a triangle by bringing the corners together, then use a fork to press the edges together and seal. This is the perfect step for kids to help with!

Repeat with all the squares of puff pastry until you have a batch of pumpkin turnovers ready to bake.

Brush the tops of the triangles with the egg whites — this creates a golden, flaky crust. You can also use melted butter for this step.

Bake your pumpkin turnovers at 400°F for 16-19 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as cooking time may vary depending on your specific oven. You’re looking for a them to just start to turn golden brown – they’ll finish cooking slightly after you remove them from the oven.

Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Pumpkin cake and chocolate chips are my favorite flavor combinations! (My husband makes amazing Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins that both the kids and I love!) There’s just something about adding a but of dark chocolate to spicy pumpkin that tastes just heavenly. I look forward to pumpkin season all year!

Baking in the regular oven is an exact science, with little room for error. So for an amateur like me, it can be a little intimidating.

That’s why I’m so excited about this Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake recipe — it takes the guesswork out of Fall baking! Even better, the Instant Pot doesn’t heat up the whole house like a regular oven (because it’s still super hot outside here in Texas!)

I also love how with this IP Pumpkin Cake you get to unwrap it at the end, like a sweet surprise! It’s a fun and easy way to get into Fall baking with the kids!

This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake is perfect to make for a little get-together with friends and family, or simply a treat with your morning coffee. Or you can pack a slice in the kids’ lunch boxes for a special midday treat. It’s just right for any occasion!

More of our Favorite Pumpkin Recipes:

How cute are these kid-made Owl Cupcakes? A fun food craft that kind of reminds me of Professor Owl from the Disney Sing-A-Long Songs I loved as a child, these cute cupcakes are great for a classroom treat or an easy party activity.

Cute & Easy Owl Cupcakes

With two of my daughter’s friends having full-out owl obsessions, it was only a matter of time before we got an invitation to an owl party.

Whenever a family friend has a party, I always offer to help out since baking, crafting and throwing parties is kind of what I’m known for and I don’t find it as stressful as a lot of other people do. (It’s a party – and that party mentality should be adopted from the very first planning stages.)

This time, however, my daughter was the one who did the offering and we were asked to make some cute owl-themed cupcakes to bring along to the party. So, since she volunteered us, I wanted to come up with something easy enough for her to do mostly independently.

These cute owl cupcakes fit the bill perfectly!

Simple enough for kids to do while looking polished and party-perfect, these owl cupcakes would also be a fun food activity at a party, which doubles to save you prep time in the kitchen and one less activity to prepare!

While we are providing a recipe for from-scratch vanilla cupcakes below, you can use premade muffins or a boxed cake mix.

I also would prefer my own homemade buttercream recipe in this food craft – but my daughter was soooo excited to buy blue frosting for our “Professor Owl cupcakes” that I couldn’t say no. Besides, sometimes using premade items lets you focus on just the crafting and together time.

What’s Inside: These chocolate dipped Winnie the Pooh Donuts are almost too cute to eat! Almost…

Winnie The Pooh Doughnuts

Tell me these are not the cutest donuts you’ve ever seen!

We’re super excited for the new Winnie the Pooh movie, Christopher Robin, which hits theaters this month! To celebrate, we’re sharing some of our favorite Pooh-themed recipes that kids will love to make…and eat!

These donuts are made from scratch, and dipped in chocolate to look just like Winnie-the-Pooh. They’re perfect for a movie night or Winnie the Pooh birthday party.

Decorating Items

How to Make Winnie the Pooh Donuts

A free printable copy of this recipe is available at the bottom of the post.

Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare a donut pan with cooking spray.

TIP: We love silicone donut pans because they’re non-stick so the donuts pop right out when they’re done!

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla extract.

Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients, whisking together until well combined. (You can also use a hand mixer if you like, just take care not to over-beat the batter).

Spoon batter into doughnut pan. There should be enough batter for about 15 donuts.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350°F.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer donuts from pan to a wire cooling rack.

To Make the Donut Glaze

In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and milk and mix well.

TIP: If there are still lumps of sugar, add another 1-2 Tablespoons of milk as needed until glaze is smooth.

Split the glaze into two bowls.

In one bowl add in a few drops of yellow gel food coloring and mix well. Your goal is for the jello glaze to match the color of the yellow candy melts.

In the second bowl, mix in a few drops of the red gel coloring. Stir well and add more coloring if needed until you have a vibrant bright red like Pooh’s shirt.

Decorating Directions

Place your wire rack over a large cookie sheet so that when you pour the yellow glaze onto the doughnuts, the glaze will not drip onto the counter.

Grab a cooled doughnut and cut a slit into the side of the donut for pooh’s ears. Gently press a candy melt into the slit so that it sticks out halfway. Repeat step with the other side of the doughnut so that it looks like two ears. Do this for all of your donuts.

Place the doughnuts onto the wire rack and pour the yellow glaze over the doughnuts until fully coated.

Allow glaze to dry for at least an hour.

Once the yellow glaze has slightly hardened, take a large knife, spatula or anything that is flat and carefully place in the middle of the doughnut. This will act as a shield for when you pour the red glaze on, to keep it only on halftone donut.

Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare a donut pan with cooking spray.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla extract.

Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients, whisking together until well combined.

Spoon batter into doughnut pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle,, then transfer donuts from pan to a wire cooling rack.

To Make the Donut Glaze

In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and milk and mix well.

Split the glaze into two bowls, coloring one bowl of icing yellow and one bowl bright red.

Decorating Directions

Grab a cooled doughnut and cut a slit into the side of the donut for pooh's ears. Gently press a candy melt into the slit so that it sticks out halfway. Repeat step with the other side of the doughnut so that it looks like two ears. Do this for all of your donuts.

Place the doughnuts onto the wire rack and pour the yellow glaze over the doughnuts until fully coated.

Allow glaze to dry for at least an hour.

Once the yellow glaze has slightly hardened, take a large knife, spatula or anything that is flat and carefully place in the middle of the doughnut. This will act as a shield for when you pour the red glaze on, to keep it only on halftone donut.

Chocolate Covered Winnie-the-Pooh Marshmallow Pops

The new Christopher Robin movie is on the way, and to celebrate we’ve been working on lots of Winnie-the-Pooh recipes to bring your way!

These Winnie-the-Pooh Marshmallow Pops are the easiest one to make — kids will love to dip and decorate them! (Chocolate dipped treats like these Oreo Polar Bear Cookies are one of my girls’ favorite things to make in the kitchen).

I love the bright yellow color of these Pooh Bear Pops – they’re perfect to make for birthday parties or to celebrate the new movie with Pooh and friends!

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Hi there & welcome!

We're Stacey and Jennifer, and we're so glad you stopped by to visit! In the Kids Kitchen is our place to share inspiration to cook, play, and learn with your kids. From tips for teaching kitchen skills, to family-friendly recipes, kitchen crafts & sensory play, cookbook reviews, and more!